Industry News

The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA), the premier association for kitchen and bath professionals with over 60,000 members, today announced its 2015 Executive Committee, led by 2015 President Maria Stapperfenne, CKD, CBD of Whitehouse Station, NJ. Mark Kovich, of Winchester, VA, was named 2015 President-Elect, and Denise Dick, CMKBD, of Carrollton, TX, will serve as Vice President. Lorenzo Marquez, of Sugar Land, TX, will assume the role of Treasurer, and Blue Arnold, CKD, CBD, of Jarrettsville, MD, will hold the position of Secretary. John A. Petrie, CMKBD, of Mechanicsburg, PA, will serve as Immediate Past President.

Find additional information on each of the 2015 NKBA Executive Committee members below.

President – Maria Stapperfenne, CKD, CBD, Tewksbury Kitchens & Baths, Whitehouse Station, NJ

Maria Stapperfenne, CKD, CBD, started her career in kitchens and baths in 1992, becoming a Certified Kitchen Designer in 2005 and a Certified Bath Designer in 2006. She is the Manager of Tewksbury Kitchens & Baths, a division of Huston Lumber & Supply Co, and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Trenton State College. Maria has been active in the Northern NJ Chapter, serving as President, Secretary, VP of Technology & Communications, and Chapter Representative. She has served as a Region Director, member of the Board of Directors, Certification Test Validation Committee, Nominating Committee, Industry Segment Task Force, Development Task Force, Governance Task Force, and a judge for the NKBA Design Competition.
President-Elect – Mark Kovich, Waypoint Living Spaces ®, Winchester, VA

Mark has been a part of the kitchen & bath industry for 23 years. During this time, he has served on the advisory council of manufacturers (as Chair), as well as Virginia Tech. Most recently, he served on the NKBA Board of Directors as a Member at Large. During his 3-year term, he served on the CEO Compensation Committee and the Governance Task Force, and chaired the Nominating Committee. He is currently the Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Waypoint Living Spaces®, which is the proud sponsor of the NKBA Student and Professional Design Competitions.

Vice President – Denise Dick, CMKBD, Signature Kitchens by Design, Carrollton, TX

Denise Dick, CMKBD, has been active in the kitchen and bath industry since 1984 as a designer, trainer, training development writer and consultant. In 2002, she opened Signature Kitchens by Design, a full-service conceptual design agency that offers design, planning and comprehensive management of remodeling projects. She has been active in her NKBA chapter from the beginning, serving as President, VP of Technology and Communications, VP of Membership, Secretary and Chapter Representative. Denise was also a judge for the local NARI Contractor of the Year Awards. She has served on the national NKBA level as a Region Director, member of the Board of Directors, the Education Task Force, the CKBP Certification Committee, the CKBP Exam Blueprint Specification Committee, and as a test writer for the CKBP exam.
Treasurer – Lorenzo Marquez, Cosentino North America, Sugar Land, TX

Lorenzo Marquez is Vice President of Marketing for Cosentino North America, a world leader in the manufacturing and distribution of quartz, natural stone, and recycled surfaces. In this role, he oversees all marketing, public relations and digital strategies for Cosentino Group’s portfolio of brands in the U.S. market. Lorenzo has been instrumental in overseeing Cosentino’s expansion in North America, which in 2015 will include the launch of 10 new regional Cosentino Centers, and the ongoing global launch of Dekton by Cosentino. He joined Cosentino in 2003 after receiving a degree in Entrepreneurship from the University of Houston and working for Levi Strauss & Company, also in marketing. He serves on the NKBA KBIS Advisory Council and is an active member of the A+D and Kitchen & Bath community.

Secretary – Blue Arnold, CKD, CBD, Kitchens by Request, Inc., Jarrettsville, MD

Blue Arnold CKD, CBD, is the Principal of Kitchens by Request, Inc., located in Jarrettsville, Maryland. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia in 1990, and soon after joined his family business. He has served on the NKBA Board of Directors since 2013, and has held the following positions in the Baltimore/Washington Chapter: President 2007-2008, VP Strategic Planning 2009, VP Programs 2004-2006, Secretary 2002-2003, and currently, Chapter Representative. He has served on numerous task forces and committees including the Governance Task Force, 50th Anniversary Task Force, 2013 30 under 30 Selection Committee, 2014 NKBA Executive Nominating Committee, 2010 NKBA Student Design Competition Judging Panel, 2011 & 2014 NKBA Design Competition Judging Panel, Region 3 Secretary BOCR, and as the 2013 KBIS Chapter Officer Leadership Summit Training Facilitator.

Immediate Past President – John A. Petrie, CMKBD, Mother Hubbard’s Custom Cabinetry, Mechanicsburg, PA

John A. Petrie, CMKBD, has been working in the kitchen and bath industry since 1987, designing custom kitchens, bathrooms, home offices, wine cellars and home theaters. His early education was in architectural design, but his defining specialty and advanced training have been in kitchens and baths. He is the owner of Mother Hubbard’s Custom Cabinetry in Mechanicsburg, PA. John has served the Susquehanna Valley Chapter of the NKBA as Treasurer, Vice President of Communications, President, and Chapter Representative. During his tenure on the NKBA Board of Directors, he has served on numerous committees and chaired several task forces. John and his father, Les Petrie, CMKBD, have both been leaders in the NKBA, with John serving as President in 2014, and Les in 2003. This distinction marked the first-ever, father-and-son presidencies for the NKBA.

October 2014 Winners of VIP Installation Showcase and VIP Drawing Announced

Lochinvar has announced the first winners in its VIP Contractor Program for the 2014-2015 heating season. Kevin Hart of Hart Plumbing & Heating in Portsmouth, NH, was named the October winner of the VIP Installation Showcase, and John Zinser of Zinser Plumbing & Heating in Clare, MI, was selected in the first monthly VIP drawing. Both winners will be awarded Lochinvar’s renowned Nashville Experience, an all-expenses-paid trip for two that includes tickets to the world’s largest country music festival in June 2015.

Impressive Installation

During the initial month of the annual VIP Installation Showcase, which is housed on Lochinvar’s Facebook page as well as on www.knightheatingboiler.com, Hart submitted an entry detailing the installation of a Cadet^® Boiler in an apartment building in Dover, NH. In addition to providing an efficient solution for heating the common areas of the building, the Cadet CCN120 Boiler, which is equipped with a separate heat exchanger that delivers up to 3.0 GPM of domestic hot water, is also used for a mop sink for those areas.

“I’m very excited to be the first winner in this year’s VIP Installation Showcase,” said Hart. “We’re committed to offering our customers top-quality, high-efficiency heating systems, and it means a lot to have Lochinvar recognize our work with this award.”

Through April 2015, approved contractors can upload a photo and brief description of any eligible boiler installation to the contest interface. Qualified products include the high-efficiency KNIGHT^® (55,000 – 399,000 Btu/hr models), Solution™ and Cadet^® Boilers, as well as the Squire^® Indirect Water Heater.

Once an entry has been submitted, it is featured in a gallery where Facebook users can vote for their favorite installations. Each month of the Showcase, the top three entries with the most votes are selected as finalists, and a panel of Lochinvar judges chooses the winner.

If an Installation Showcase entry is not named a winner in the month it was registered, there’s still a chance it may win in a later month. While VIP Contractors can only win the Nashville Experience once per year, submissions continue to be eligible to win even after the first month they are entered.

Rewards for Registrations

Along with Hart, Zinser will be among the VIP Contractors attending the 2015 Nashville Experience. Approved VIP Contractors are entered into a monthly drawing for the annual four-day getaway prize package. When the drawing was held for October, Zinser’s name was randomly selected.

In addition to the chance to win the monthly drawing, approved VIP Contractors earn gift card rewards for each registration card. For each qualified boiler registration, VIPs receive a Visa^® Reward Card pre-loaded with $25 value. Each registration of the Squire Indirect Water Heater earns a card pre-loaded with $10 value.

“I can’t wait to take part in the Nashville Experience next summer,” said Zinser. “I was looking forward to getting the rewards card for my registration, and then I couldn’t believe it when I found out that I won the first drawing for the trip!”

During the all-expenses-paid trip for two, winners and their guests will stay at Nashville’s Omni Hotel, a short walk from the ultimate experience for any country music fan. As part of the Nashville Experience, the winning VIP Contractors will also tour Lochinvar’s world headquarters and take part in a round-table discussion where they can share insights and information with Lochinvar executives.

For more information about the VIP Contractor Program, visit knightheatingboiler.com.

In recognition of the 13th annual World Toilet Day on November 19, American Standard has released a Global Sanitation Report offering the latest information on the lack of adequate sanitation resources afflicting nearly 40 percent of the world population. The document also provides updates on the Company’s Flush for Good campaign, which aims to reach 20 million people by 2020 with improved sanitation facilities that can reduce disease to help save lives.

The goal of World Toilet Day is to raise awareness about this critical global health issue and support the many organizations working to create change. There are currently 2.5 billion people globally without access to safe sanitation facilities. Every day, 2,000 people – mainly children – die from diseases caused by lack of access to proper sanitation facilities.

The United Nations General Assembly formally recognized November 19 as World Toilet Day in 2013, helping to bring increased awareness and resources to provide all people worldwide with access to safe sanitation.

To aid the improvement of global sanitation conditions, American Standard partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2012 to develop a low-cost hygienic toilet pan that reduces disease transmission and odors in pit latrines that are common throughout Asia and Africa. After accompanying non-government organization (NGO) partner iDE to Bangladesh for a deep dive market study, American Standard engineers created the SaTo hygienic toilet pan (named for Safe Toilet).

This sanitary SaTo toilet pan uses simple mechanical and water seals to close off pit latrines from the open air, preventing the spread of pathogens back out of the pit via flying insects. The SaTo pans were also designed to accommodate existing cultural and sanitation practices in Bangladesh, which aided their acceptance within the communities.

To further expand the SaTo pan’s reach, in 2013 American Standard launched its Flush for Good campaign that resulted in the donation of 1.2 million SaTo toilet pans to developing countries. To date, more than 400,000 of these SaTo pans have been distributed for installation through partnerships with NGOs BRAC, WaterAid, Save the Children, Water for People, Plumbers Without Borders and Food for the Poor.

By working with a local manufacturer in Bangladesh, who has established market channels throughout the country, more than 120,000 SaTos have also been sold for between $1.50 and $1.85 each. This pricing makes the SaTo pan both aspirational and attainable for a population that survives on less than $1.00 per day.

“We’re reaching magnitudes of people via a sustainable business proposition rather than through charity,” said Jay Gould, president and CEO of American Standard Brands. “If we can develop a product that people actually want to use, the health benefits of improved sanitation practices naturally will follow.”

Design of a new sanitation solution is currently underway for use in arid Sub-Saharan Africa, where key elements to the SaTo pan’s function, water and concrete, are not readily available. The ultimate goal will be to replicate the product development model that American Standard successfully used to design, produce, and distribute the SaTo pan in Bangladesh.

Jim McHale, Ph.D., global sanitation products business unit leader for American Standard, will participate in the World Toilet Summit to be held in early 2015. Started by the World Toilet Organization, this global event will bring together non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, toilet associations and private sector stakeholders to collaborate, share knowledge and resources, and better impact the sanitation marketplace. McHale will share his Company’s learnings regarding the improved sanitation solutions that their team has researched, developed and tested for use around the world.

Download the American Standard 2014 Global Sanitation Report.

For more information about the Flush for Good campaign, visit www.flushforgood.com.

Matco-Norca continues to expand its lead free valve offerings with the introduction of its 754PXDELF Pex ball valve with waste drain and drop ear elbow. This valve is compliant with the federal Safe Water Drinking Act (SWDA).

The full-port forged brass Pex ball valve features a two-piece body with Pex ends, a waste drain and drop ear elbow and has a 600 WOG–150 SWP capacity. The brass stems are blow-out proof.

754PXDELF Pex ball valve comes in 1/2″, 3/4″ and 1″ sizes and has LF imprinted on the body of each valve indicating lead free.

In addition to the 754PXDELF Pex ball valves, Matco-Norca offers 754PXLF ball valves, 759PLF press ball valves and 759MFLF MIP x FIP ball valves, to form a complete line of lead free ball valves for a range of plumbing applications.

For more information on the company’s extensive line of lead free ball valves, visit www.matco-norca.com and click on Valves.